Context and problem(s) addressed
Australia, like many other countries, faces significant challenges in child protection, particularly regarding the placement of children in out-of-home care due to safety concerns. In New South Wales (NSW), there are currently over 4,000 children in living away from their parents in out-of-home care, leading to concerns about the long-term effects on children and families and highlighting a strong need for investment in reunification services.
Intervention and financing model
The New Parent Infant Network (Newpin) is an intensive family restoration programme which is delivered by Uniting Communities (a community service organisation in NSW) in partnership with the South Australian Department for Child Protection. While the programme has existed since 1998, the launch of the Newpin Social Benefit Bond (SBB) in NSW in 2013 marked a new era for the program. In fact, the SBB arrangement brought a much sharper focus on measuring impact, and a more deliberate approach to supporting families who could most benefit from the programme.
The Programme is an 18-month centre-based programme that is designed to strengthen family engagement to enable children to return to and live safely with their families. Parents are supported to work with their strengths to improve parent-child relationships and learn from their peers.
The Newpin SIB is an outcomes-based contract where private investors provide $6.5 million in capital to Uniting Communities to fund the program. Payments to Uniting Communities are based on the proportion of children reunified with their families, with repayment tied to the programme’s success in achieving positive outcomes that reduce government service costs. Investors receive returns based on the programme’s performance.
Key outcomes (if applicable) and associated measurements
The programme has successfully restored 59% of children to their families, a rate nearly three times higher than the 20% counterfactual restoration rate used for comparison in the SBB arrangement. Moreover, approximately 65% of children who were at risk of being removed from their families were able to remain safely at home, avoiding entry into out-of-home care.
Investors received a financial return of 10% per year.
The Newpin SIB model was replicated in two other regions in Australia. The bond in Queensland had to however be terminated only three years into the planned seven-year term due to insufficient participant numbers and unclear integration with local child protection systems. This highlights that even if a programme was well structured and funded, implementing it in a new context is never straightforward. Implementation risks therefore need to be carefully considered.